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Inspiration

Where I live we currently have a daily mix of snow, rain, sun, and storms turning any excursion into a wet, slippery, cold adventure.

In stark contrast, my social media feed is filled with fantastic vacation pictures from friends and acquaintances currently in Sri Lanka, California, Indonesia, Colombia and Nairobi.

It would be easy to envy them and long for similar adventures, and yet I’m perfectly happy exactly where I am.

My days are spent with my one and a half year old son, playing, meeting friends, taking walks. My evenings are spent on the couch with my girlfriend, talking, watching movies or series, cuddling. And when they sleep I squeeze in some creative work, toiling away on the comic I’m drawing or working for clients.

To me, that’s the greenest grass there is.

I don’t have to travel to the locations above (though a few of them are on my list of places to visit), I get to see and experience them through the lens of my friends – and that’s plenty.

I’ve never travelled all that much, but I have been to various places around Europe and North America. During my younger years I spent a fair amount of time partying – burning the candle at both ends and indulging in a variety of pleasures. The remaining time I spent quietly reading, watching movies and playing games with a handful of close friends.

I’ve lived an eclectic life. Now I just want to spend time with my family and my art.

Undoubtedly there’s still a lot for me to experience – both at home and abroad – but I hope the next few years will be spent close to the loves of my life – my son, his mother, and my art.

It doesn’t matter if the grass is found wanting for colour – I have a lot of paint!

My first reblog of 2018 is a six years old, but still very relevant, blog post by comics writer Jim Zub (whose excellent blog Zub Tales you should check out if you are interested in comics creation) – so check out if you want some advice on how to find an Artist for your comic, or if you are an artist looking for some insight into the writer’s side of things:

Last year I took the leap from occasional creator to running my own business as a professional illustrator, graphic designer and writer – something that took a lot of courage, hard work and determination.

There’s been bumps in the road causing delays in setting everything up, but I’m still on track.

My next steps are advertising myself more, catching up on both personal and professional projects so that I have a clear schedule ahead of me – and most importantly: improving my daily routine both personally and professionally.

All while balancing life as a father and partner, and going back to my part time day job after more than half a year as a stay-at-home dad.

I start the new year with clear goals in mind and a path staked out for turning my business into my primary means of support.

2017 was full of challenges, learning, and new acquaintances and connections. I bought a new apartment with the love of my life and together we built a home for our little family, something which allowed me to finally set up a professional creative work space (no more drawing at the dining room table!) and sort through all of my art supplies.

I’ve connected with some amazing people, both privately and in my business, and they have been a big help and inspiration for me as I move forward with my goals.
2018 will also see the release of Lady Phantom – the vigilante comic book I’m doing with writer Julie K. Taylor – after nearly two years of preparation and hard work.

What did you accomplish in 2017 and what challenges do you anticipate in 2018?

This week’s reblog (the first in quite awhile) comes from Damien Walter, and has some advice on what makes a story attractive to readers – while this advice probably won’t let you write a best seller, it’s definitely something to keep in mind when you plan your story (and maybe more importantly – pitch and blurb it!)

This week’s reblog comes from TechCrunch and touches on the escalating problem of social media feedback loops – while this shouldn’t really be news to anyone, the article shares some great comparisons and insights:

My reblog for this week is on a current hot topic – the one of my homeland, crime and immigration – from a foreign national who have adopted Sweden as his new country.
I do not know Neil, but I have at least a dozen friends and acquaintances from abroad who have come to call Sweden their home, and almost every single one of them have expressed views and opinion that mirror what Neil writes here:

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